


Day 130

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [130]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:34:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24100648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Relationships: Jansen/Wanda
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [130]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257





	Day 130

Jansen was just about to close everything down and head home for the day when Gretta bounded happily through the doors. The guards at the entrance knew her well enough that they didn’t try to stop her. She came right up to Jansen’s desk and dropped a coin purse in front of him.

“Jansen,” she said, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ve come to make my first payment.”

“It’s not due for another day,” he said. Greta shoved the coins across the table.

“I have enough to make the payment today. I figured better to get it out of the way in case I get mugged or something.”

“The kids is doing a good job running around then?” he asked. “When I was their age I might just have run off with a new pair of shoes like that.”

Greta had been their first client. She took out a loan to buy good running shoes in a wide range of sizes. Her plan was to rent them out to the children who worked as runners but couldn’t afford shoes of their own. At the end of the day, they would return the shoes and pay a percentage of their earnings for the use of the shoes. The hope had been that with better footwear they could run faster and get more jobs and so afford to pay for the rental fee. 

“A few did run off,” Gretta said. “But less than you might think.”

Jansen offered Greta some tea but she was in a hurry to get back to her home. She had left some of the kids guarding her kiosk but they couldn’t do much if someone wanted to steal her shoes. 

Jansen counted the coins. It was enough to cover the interest and put a bit towards repayment. She was the first customer in the new business to make a payment and Jansen felt like celebrating. Nothing too extravagant, they had a long way to go yet, but they should do something to mark the occasion.

They lived over the lending office to save money and Jansen bounded happily up the stairs. He had expected a warm greeting when he got home but instead he was met with silence. He had a moment of panic while he thought of all the things that could go wrong but he found Wanda and Jansen jr. passed out asleep on the bed. Usually Wanda would be in the middle of making food about not and Jansen felt his stomach grumble, more so out of habit then anything else.

Wanda had been very tired of late. Jansen jr. was being especially fussy and she was having to get up several times a night to calm him. The bones from yesterday’s chicken were soaking in the hearth. The smell reminded Jansen of his mother’s turnip and barley stew. Jansen suddenly had an idea and raced out of the house. The guards nodded to him as he passed, Varric had taken the lead on hiring guards and Jansen felt better leaving his family knowing someone was watching over them.

Most of the grocers were packing up shop for the day but Jansen did a quick circuit, taking advantage of the market, taking advantage of the end-of-day deals they were offering. When he returned home he had enough turnips and other assorted vegetables for a proper stew. They had some barley already, all he needed to do was chop everything up and throw it in the pot with the stock.

When Wanda drifted slowly awake, the stew was bubbling happily in the pot.

“That smells amazing,” she said, sitting up. Jansen handed her a bowl. She ate a spoonful and got a strange look on her face. She didn’t say anything immediately.

“Me mum would put herbs from the garden in there for some spice,” He explained, “but we don’t have a garden so I had to do without. I’m sorry if it’s no good.”

“No,” Wanda said. “I love the taste of Turnips.” She spat out a chicken rib. “You were just meant to take out the bones first.”

“Oh,” Jansen said. “I guess I really fowled that up didn’t I.”

There was a long pause, Jansen could feel the tension building. The Wanda’s face split into a gigantic grin and she burst out laughing. She laughed until she cried. She laughed like she hadn’t laughed since before they had left Fereldon.

Jansen might not be able to make a decent stew, but at least he could do some things right.


End file.
